Tears of the British Empire
by Trillx
Summary: England was beat up in a bar fight and has now lost all self confidence and it seems the only person that can help him is the person that always brought him down. FrUk


France was worried. No. Correction. France was _terrified._ He'd been making jabs at England all day but the other hadn't replied to it. _NOT ONCE._ France may not always like England but seeing the other in this state was a little worrying. England was in a ball in his chair not in his usual perfect posture at all. His head was buried in his knees and he wasn't speaking to anyone. The other members of G8 had learned to ignore England when he was in one of these moods ... except France. France wasn't going to let England be quiet and sad like that. Not that France cared about England being sad it was just that France no longer had someone to argue with instead of hearing Germany rave on about world problems.

France carefully poked England's shoulder waiting for the other to react. England flinched but nothing else.  
"Angleterre" France poked him again "Angleterre, Angleterre, Angleterre, Angleterre" he poked the smaller man with each word  
England didn't respond at all.  
"France just leave him alone"  
France looked up to see a very angry looking America.  
"What's the matter with the stupid brit?" France asked raising an eyebrow  
America just glared, it was strange not seeing him his happy-go-lucky self proclaimed heroic self "It's none of your buisness France just leave him alone"  
France blinked "I just want to make sure he's-"  
"France. Leave him alone." America said sternly  
France however wasn't going to let the issue go so quickly.

"Hey black sheep of Europe" France poked England once more "Come on, what's wrong?"  
"Leave me alone frog" England muttered into his legs  
France felt his heart shatter a bit at England's tone - it would have shattered for anyone, there's nothing special about England - he just wanted to hug the Brit.  
"Angleterre what's the matter?" France asked  
"Leave. Me. Alone." England said once again  
"I just-"  
"Want to know what's wrong" England's voice came out as a growl "I know. I get it. Just so you can tease me about it and make me feel like crap but not this time Frog and never again"  
England got up and ran off.  
"Vhy did he run off?" Germany questioned "France vhat did you do?"  
"He bothered him when I told him not to" America sighed "Not cool dude"  
France just sat there petrified. What. Had. Just. Happened?  
"Nobody else can leave this conference room until- France where are you going?!" Germany's shocked and enraged expression usually scared France enough to keep him in the room but something was wrong with England and despite America's attempts to get France to stay away from England, France needed to know what was wrong with his petit lapin.

* * *

England wished it wasn't raining. That would make sulking outside crying a whole lot easier. He hated everything right now. He hated every damn aspect of life. He felt the rain seeping through his clothes and flattening his hair to his head but he didn't care. England figured, this was the universe punishing him. He deserved to be soaked in the rain.  
"Angleterre!"  
England flinched shuffling behind a trashcan hoping France would pass over him but no such luck. He felt the rain stop falling on him almost immediately. France was gazing down at him concerned holding an umbrella over his head.  
"Your stupid hair is going to frizz up" England commented hoping it would help him to fend France off  
"Je ne m'inquiète pas" France said with a slight shrug sitting next to England on the cold wet ground "You're more important than hair what's the matter Angleterre"  
"You don't care about me just go away" England said trying to push France away, he'd feel so much better if he was cold and wet again  
Unfortunately, France didn't seem to want to move away.  
"Come on Black Sheep what's wrong with you?" France asked  
"LEAVE ME ALONE!" England's voice seemed to echo around the alley  
France just stared before wrapping England up in a hug "Please tell me what's wrong Arthur"  
England stiffened at the usage of his human name "N-Nothing"  
"I haven't seen you cry since...America left..." France gulped carefully dancing around the sensitive topic "There has to be something wrong"  
England whimpered and then started sobbing into France's shoulder. France looked down shocked and worried keeping the Brit safe in his arms. France put his face into England's hair and waited for the Brit to finish sobbing. It only took about 5 minutes before it turned from sobbing to little sniffles.  
"Do you want to tell me now Angleterre?" France asked softly  
"I-I..." England's voice trailed off "I got d-drunk at a bar and n-nobody was around to pick me u-up and I ended up getting b-bullied by some stupid assholes and th-they beat me up and I lay in an al-alley for a d-day until America f-found me" England's voice shook the entire time

Anger welled up in France's chest. Not the simple sort of anger that can easily disappear but real anger. France had hurt England enough to know most of the time it wasn't as fun as you thought it would be. Anyone who could turn the British Empire to such a...weak...state was someone that France had a good reason to be angry at. Nobody. Nobody could hurt England that much. It just wasn't done.

"I used to be st-strong" England whimpered  
"You still are mon petit lapin" France whispered hugging England closer to his chest "You still are"  
The Umbrella fell from where France had fixed it between them but it didn't matter. The rain was beginning to let up anyways.

* * *

Je ne m'inquiète pas = (French) I don't care  
Angleterre = (French) England  
Petit Lapin = (French) Little Rabbit


End file.
